“Sure.” Kadd scooped her up and placed her in the warm curl of his neck. “And don’t worry, I’ll shield your thoughts for you from the others so you can truly rest – wouldn’t want any more thoughts escaping.”
Kalara woke up the next morning feeling a lot better. Tamtoc had released his human form to sleep. After he and Vritra awakened they left the lair to go fishing. Kadd also stirred awake in time to see them off.
“Looks like it’s just you and me.” Kadd said after they left.
Kalara stretched, then tamed her hair and straightened her clothes. She didn’t want to sleep like that again. “Uh-huh” she mumbled. All Kalara could think about was the mistake of leaving her mummies and going down that hole. Her poor mummies were still there, hiding at the top. She hoped she could find the place again. All she had to do was hang on a bit longer and she would be free again.
“So when do you think they’ll get here?” Kalara asked.
“It’ll be tonight probably. They have to work with the airports’ schedule you know.”
Kalara walked over to the table and sat down. She just wanted this whole Acama business to be over with. Knowing she was going to have to wait all day depressed her. ‘Why must they take an airplane?’ she wondered but didn’t want to ask. Of course her former self would know why. She also still wondered exactly how much Kadd had got from her thoughts. What all did he know? It couldn’t be too much or else he would have killed her already.
“Let’s go fishing.” Kadd said as he flexed his wings.
“No, this is fine for me.” she replied and grabbed a piece of fruit.
“Are you sure?” Kadd curled his purple-scaled mouth into a smile. “We could fly, entwine in the air like you always wanted.... then eat.”
She shook her head “No, really. I’m good.”
“Kalara, it is so rare to be here in Viptryx. We should get out and enjoy it. The waves, the penguins...”
“You go, really. I’ll be here.”
“Alright then, will you be OK?”
“Yes. I’m not sick or anything.”
After Kadd left Kalara went over to the water way and found a good place to sit. Now that she was alone she was thinking of leaving. There was no wisdom in leaving though because surely they’d find her flying away and she’d have to explain herself.
So she made herself comfortable instead, her mind went to Kadd and how quickly she got to know him. He had asked her to release her human form – if only she could! But that meant he hadn’t found out everything and apparently the part he did know didn’t warrant killing her.
Kalara wondered if Ravanan lied about the Acamas killing her because he knew that Kadd loved her. She smiled. Kadd was in love with her – even knowing she had forgotten him totally. It sure didn’t seem like Kadd could kill her, ever. Fear still remained in her heart though. What if Kadd did find out? What would he do? And did Ravanan know how Kadd felt? Once again she had too many questions rolling around in her head. Ravanan said he was her mate and it was him who searched for her. But she couldn’t trust Ravanan, the way he had treated her, doubted her, and his brutal interrogation that had nearly squeezed the life from her. He’d been so cold with her, it was confusing.
But Kadd.... she decided not to ask the questions that came to her and keep her secrets to herself. Was she mated to him now? Did yesterday nullify all 2,000 years of her and Ravanan? Perhaps mostly on her mind was what would Kadd do when he learned she couldn’t release her human form? She feared it would be today, the day of Tamtoc’s rite. The wizard Kadd was nice on the eyes though, she hadn’t minded yesterday, in fact it was fun. And she got the feeling from Kadd’s aura that she could trust him. It was only her fear holding her back. After all, didn’t she at one point feel like she could trust Ravanan? And what did that trust get her?
She ran her hand along the rock; knowing she could trust it and it wasn’t confusing or malicious, it was just there, helping her. In her heart she planned to somehow get Kadd to take her back to the Acama Lair after the rite, it was the last place she’d been before traveling by all the anchors to where she was now. From there she’d part ways, collect her mummies, and use them to find her way back to Black Blade. She really needed to work on trusting herself to make (and use) anchors – not using them was becoming a detriment.
Kalara hoped Kadd wouldn’t notice her mummies when they returned. She did tell them to hide and they were good at it. What would Kadd think of her mummies? That worried her. Of course they looked repulsive and very dead, but you had to look beyond that. There was no decay or rot in them and they had become her best companions. She trusted them, more than that she held their very existence with her will, it was complete obedience like a well-trained dog. But he may not understand all that.
Kadd returned before Tamtoc and Vritra. “Those waves are fun” he said as he came to lay near Kalara. “Before you leave you’ve got to go for a swim.”
“Maybe I will.”
Kadd looked over at the feasting table, now it had fruit and refreshing drinks laid out. “That was quite the dinner Vritra prepared for us last night.”
“It was.” Kalara agreed. “I hadn’t eaten like that in a while.”
“Well, you know she never has to cook here. She did that for Tamtoc and me.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I eat what humans eat, like most of us do.”
“But Ravanan....”
“I know. Ravanan likes to keep with tradition.” Kadd interrupted. Then he nuzzled her. “But we’re done with him finally, right?”
“Right.” She leaned into Kadd’s cheek.
“I don’t want this day to end.” Kadd said as they watched the little waterfalls.
“Yeah, I guess we’re all pretty busy.”
“So where have you been staying since you left Ravanan? At the Acama Lair?”
“Yeah, there and amongst the humans.”
“And now? We need to set up a portal from my home in Nikhadelos to yours. I don’t want to be away from you, not every night.”
They were interrupted when Tamtoc returned. Vritra passed through too. She was clearly giving them space and spent the greatest part of the day calling on other dragonesses and polishing the diamonds in her horns. There was a whole society in Viptryx, it was a foreign world with different social protocols and graces. Kalara got the feeling that formality and etiquette meant everything here.
Kadd and Tamtoc talked a lot and left again for more wave diving. Kadd invited her again with no success. It seemed to her that he was purposely keeping Tamtoc busy to give her space. He was protecting her and she was thankful. The day passed slowly. Kalara was tempted to go outside but didn’t want to make any mistakes, it wasn’t worth it and besides she understood the outside to be quite cold. She might have attempted it had she been alone and could practice with mistakes but she wasn’t alone and was so very far from all she knew.
The three of them were in the hot chamber when Tristan and Morada arrived late that night. They were in human form, Tristan carried a travel bag and Morada held a velvet-covered box.
“Tamtoc, come close.” She said. “I’ve brought you something, I call it The Fifth. I even put one of your baby scales that I saved in it.”
Tamtoc brought his head low to his Aunt Morada.
Morada unveiled her gift. It was a meticulously crafted scene set on a large piece of azurite and bound in platinum. The blue mineral represented the Southern Ocean, on one side was a pure white crystal of satin spar for an ice cap and on top of that was an amethyst carved into a statue of Tamtoc. “It’s to commemorate this day when you become an Acama.”
“Wow! Thank you Aunt Morada. It’s a fine piece, perfect for my new home here on top of the world.”
“You’re quite welcome Tamtoc. I love you. You’re going to have so much fun here, I know it. Do you see your baby scale there?” she pointed to the little dragon.
“I do!” Tamtoc could see it there inside the amethyst statue. “Is this
what took you so long to get here?”
She laughed, “No. I made that statue years ago, knowing this day would come, I grew the amethyst around it to protect it and then carved it. Tristan helped me with the rest while we waited for the plane to depart.”
“So you traveled by plane?”
“We had to” Tristan said. “For this.” He pulled a tissue-wrapped pebble from his pocket with extreme care. “It’s part of the comet – way too precious to travel by anchors with it. It must be scattered inside your heart so that 100% of its magic goes to you when released.”
Tamtoc was surprised “Is the magic still in there?”
“Yes it is.” Tristan said. He held it up, looking at it. “This is only a small piece of the comet that Acama himself found, and the fragment he found wasn’t much bigger,” he gestured the size of a small melon. “We keep it safe deep inside the lair.”
The four Acamas and Tamtoc went back to the main chamber. Vritra was nowhere around. Morada let her human form go and found a good place to make herself comfortable.
“I assume Kadd and Kalara told you what to expect?” Tristan asked.
“They did.” Tamtoc said as he laid down beside his Aunt Morada who cuddled him with love.
Kadd suggested that Tamtoc evoke his healing aloe. Tamtoc’s version was cuffs.
“Are you ready?” Kadd asked.
“I am.”
Kalara ended up standing near Tristan, feeling out of place she sought to be near anything remotely similar to herself.
Morada rubbed Tamtoc’s chest while casting “NUMB”.
Kadd evoked a saber and sliced him open between his scales while Tristan dipped the pebble first in salt water then in powdered gypsum. Then Tristan cast “AIR SEAL” on the coated pebble so that it appeared to be floating off his hand.
Tristan held it out to Kalara. “Here you go, be careful.”
Kalara was surprised. She hesitated to take it.
Kadd was instantly sending her a telepathic thought to take the coated pebble as he was holding Tamtoc’s flesh open with his talons.
Their eyes met. Kalara caved and took the precious rock with a fake smile.
Inside her head Kadd told her “Walk over and shove it in Tamtoc’s heart. You can’t miss it, it’s the big red thing I just cut a slit in. Don’t slip on his blood.”
Kalara had never walked so carefully before that moment. All eyes were on her. Tamtoc’s dark red blood was pooled under him. At times she had been close to Ravanan and Kadd in their base form but this was different. She was now standing in Tamtoc’s most vulnerable spot. There was so much trust in the chamber. The moment wasn’t about her.
She walked under Kadd’s arm and around Tamtoc’s. She was there now, with her other hand she reached out for a stable hand hold on her son’s massive purple scaled body. It was incredible. She could feel his body heat seeping from the incision.
“Anytime Kalara.” Kadd said. Morada snickered.
Kalara made sure her feet were set firmly then thrust her hand into the cut and onward deep inside the heart to place the pebble. Blood was everywhere – not just on her arm but her armpit, face, and side too. Blood was even in her hair.
Kalara started to back off when Kadd said. “OK, ready? Do you want to breathe fire or pulverize it?”
Kalara answered “I think Tristan ought to get to do something, or Morada?”
Tristan came up “I’ve got the fire.”
Kadd nodded “I’m ready.”
Tristan breathed a narrow flame that only hit the edge of the heart but most went in as he targeted the pebble. “OK, close him up Kalara.”
Kalara wanted to say ‘ugh, not again’ but thought wiser of it. She reached in and did her best to hold the heart together.
Morada cast “BIND” on the cut heart and it latched itself back together.
Tristan and Kalara backed away out of the blood puddle.
Then Kadd cast “PULVERIZE” on the coated rock, releasing the extraterrestrial amino acids that were some of the oldest in the universe. Kalara felt Tamtoc’s new resonance in her head.
Tamtoc roared in agony, Morada and Kadd held him down. The cavern walls shook. Instinctively Kalara grabbed Tristan’s hand. She thought she felt a trickle of hot blood escape her ears. She stole a glance at Tristan’s ear, it was bleeding.
Tamtoc roared again, violently.
“CALM!” Kadd cast at his son. So had Tristan and Morada. Kalara looked to each one of them. They all had blood escaping from their eyes, nostrils, and ears. She reached up to wipe her nose and found her face was bloody too.
Tamtoc was quiet then. His Aunt Morada cast “SLEEP” on him.
“What a bloody mess!” Tristan exclaimed as he wiped his nose and neck. He shook his head. “It wasn’t that bloody last time was it?”
“No.” Answered Morada gravely. She stood up and walked off.
“BIND”, Kadd cast on Tamtoc’s scaly skin, it was an afterthought. “No, it wasn’t. I remember there being a little pain and maybe a few drops but this was much worse.” He said to the group. “Let’s go wash off. Come on.”
Tristan looked at his bloodied floor with a soured face. He released his clothes and walked off to let the human form go. Kalara noticed his older body, it didn’t look so bad. She wondered if dragons could choose the apparent age of their human form. Maybe she should work with that as a way to change form.
Soon Kalara was alone with her sleeping son. She didn’t know how long she had before everyone showed up so she made a beeline for the little river and washed off. By the time they got back she was seated at the dinner table having a snack.
“Is he doing OK?” Kadd asked.
“I think so, he’s still asleep.” She answered. She couldn’t help but feel different, being the only Acama there in human form.
“Well what is everyone’s thoughts on this?” Tristan asked.
Kadd spoke first, like his troubled words were glad to be spoken. “I think Tamtoc already had the extra magic in him and that it passed from us to him.”
“I do too.” Tristan answered.
Kalara gave an agreeing nod.
“But we’ve never felt the resonance from him.” Morada countered. How were we supposed to know he had it already?”
“Do you feel it now? I do.” Kadd asked. The others nodded. “How come we never tried to have him enter the lair?”
Morada rolled her eyes, frustrated with herself. “I don’t know. We assumed he couldn’t. Here again, he didn’t have a resonance so why would he be able to? Maybe he couldn’t have entered, we won’t know until our next hatchling.”
“We should have tried it.” Kadd fired back. “That would have been a simple test. And I think you’re right, we’ll do it on the next amethyst hatchling.”
Everyone agreed.
Tristan played with his feathered whiskers in thought. “Do all of our hatchlings have the explosive power? Not counting Tamtoc how many others have we made in the past 500 years?”
“14 for me. Kalara?”
Kalara was at a loss. Again Kadd was right there to help. In her head she heard 6. “6”
“Tristan, no,” Kadd implored. “We can’t worry with them. They are out there but we’re not going to hunt down our hatchlings.”
Morada chimed in too “If they have extra magic good for them. They are alive out there and using it, not harming anybody. Chances are they don’t know they’re different.”
“I think it’s a mistake to let them live. Any more we make, we should immediately kill if they’re not amethyst.”
“Tristan, I’m not hunting them down. None of us are. That would raise questions that we don’t want to answer.” Kadd was solid on it.
“Fine. I won’t actively go after them but might find a new hobby when I’m not busy. Don’t you all see why we can’t allow our non-amethyst hatchlings to live?”
“It’s hard to admit.” Morada began, “and I want to think more on it – but not now. Back to Tamtoc
.... I’ve heard him roar before and it didn’t hurt. Does it hurt you all when I roar?”
“No, but I’ve never been inside your aura when you roared. We were right there.” Kadd said.
Morada looked around at the Acamas “Definitely the aura makes a difference. But is this something he could do at range too?”
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t think so.” Kadd responded.
Morada shot back “Have any of you gone head to head against him in magic? I haven’t.
Tristan and Kadd said no. Kalara went along with them and shook her head no.
“What’s your thoughts on this Kalara?” Morada asked.
“Well clearly,” Kalara started “he’s got a powerful roar.” She said lightly and looked around to see if that was good enough. They were all still listening. “I wonder if he’ll be OK.” she added.
“He did lose a lot of blood which was odd.” Tristan answered. “But his magic ought to preserve him. He isn’t going to die under my care.”
“He’d better not. I know you’ll keep us updated.” Kadd said.
“Maybe we should stick around for a few days.” Morada offered.
“You can if you want but I can handle him. It’s not like he is dangerous. We didn’t change his personality.”
“Well there is that at least. We raised him to be good. But with that kind of power....” Kadd’s voice trailed off, unwilling to say such a thing.
“What have we done?” Morada asked.
“Well we can’t undo it now.” Tristan said. “I don’t think we should tell him.”
Everyone agreed. Already each of them was envious but scared.
Morada looked at Kadd “You’ve spent the most time with him, has he ever said anything Naga-like?”
“Not to my knowledge.”
She went on, her purple eyes opened wide “It would be a bad thing.”
“Well that won’t happen. He knows the Naga are wrong. He won’t lord over the herd.” Kadd turned to Tristan. “Are you going to test him or not? How powerful is he?”
“I see no reason for that. We know what just happened. No need for senseless demonstrations. That would only shine a spotlight on his power.”
The Cursed Dragon Page 38
